Liberty County to sue drug manufacturers over exploding opioid issue

The common drug hydrocodone is one of many opioids at the center of a lawsuit against manufacturers by Liberty County.

The common drug hydrocodone is one of many opioids at the center of a lawsuit against manufacturers by Liberty County.

Photo: David Taylor

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Photo: File/Houston Chronicle

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According to a recent report, more Americans are taking potentially deadly doses of pain medications. In Texas and elsewhere, these medications and drugs go by a variety of names, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Learn what they are in our gallery.

According to a recent report, more Americans are taking potentially deadly doses of pain medications. In Texas and elsewhere, these medications and drugs go by a variety of names, according to the National ... more

Houston cocktailWhat it is: A mixture of three prescription drugs, including Norco, Xanax and Soma

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Houston cocktailWhat it is: A mixture of three prescription drugs, including Norco, Xanax and Soma

Photo: BSIP, UIG, Getty Images

Liberty County to sue drug manufacturers over exploding opioid issue

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Liberty County officials are in the early stages of preparing a lawsuit against opiate manufacturers, in an effort to protect residents as the issue of opioid addiction in the county grows and becomes more costly to mitigate.

The lawsuit will target manufacturers of prescription pain medication, said County Attorney Matthew Poston, who alleges that the manufacturers, who are responsible for educating pharmacists and doctors on how to prescribe the medication, did not educate them on how unsafe opiates can be.

"It's very dangerous," Poston said, "and they sell it on the idea that it's a magic pill, but it's not."

The real social costs, he said, are not only lost manpower, losses to the county government, housing the sellers, crimes of theft, burglary, and working their way through the penal system.

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"There are multiple reasons we will pursue this," Poston said. "Not only to recoup the expenses the county is out because of having to deal with the financial burden, but much more."

"If you look at the historical data, the amount (drug manufacturers) are selling per capita in the U.S. is far more than any other developed nation," Poston said.

He said if they added all of the other developed countries together, it would still be far less than what is being dumped in the market in the U.S.

"They sold the drugs with the sales pitch that this is not dangerous for chronic pain users," the county attorney said.

Furthermore, stats indicate that one out of every five users will end up becoming addicted to them, Poston claims.

FROM PAIN TO ADDICTION

Tommy could hardly bear the pain. He tried to ignore it and just go on to work, but it became increasingly difficult to do it.

Eventually, it became so painful that it was disrupting his life, his work, his home - everything.

The 33-year-old finally sought treatment and doctors immediately thought it was a severe case of pancreatitis, but later discovered a pseudo-cyst growing around the bile duct of his stomach.

"It was actually closing off my bile duct and my food wasn't digesting properly," he said. It could have been a life or death situation without surgery.

They quickly conducted the first surgery and inserted stents to allow the bile duct to open and fluids flow through.

He would have to go every six months and endure another uncomfortable procedure, an endoscopy, to make sure everything was working properly.

The dread of the procedure prevented him from going every six months as required and it turned into eight, nine, and ten months instead - a possibly dangerous position to be in.

He later met a doctor who told him he could have the bile duct rerouted and he would never have to endure the procedure again.

"I didn't even know it was an option. I told him I couldn't afford it," he said.

The doctor worked it out with him and he had the surgery, which has fixed his problem.

But he had acquired another problem - an addiction to the pain medication he had begun to take before the surgery and now afterward.

Standard procedure following surgery 12 years ago was to prescribe 1-2 tablets of 10 mg each of hydrocodone with acetaminophen for short-term relief of pain caused by the surgery or injury.

Most prescribed it every eight hours, but as his body began to build up a resistance to the drug, Tommy found himself adding to the dose until eventually he was taking eight pills every eight hours.

"Why I didn't overdose, I'll never know," he said.

While his marriage, his finances, and his job was crumbling all around him, he found he had one friend - hydrocodone.

"My doctor saw the problem and gave me my last prescription and told me I had to get off taking them," he said.

That was easier said than done.

Originally, he was prescribed 60 pills by the doctor, but when he expected him to wean himself off the drug and he couldn't, he turned to the black market where he could get 120 pills at $3 each.

Taking up to 16 per day, he was going through a single purchase of $360 every 10 or 11 days, he said.

For 10 years he lived the scourge of addiction and watched his marriage dissolve, his finances collapse and all he could do to function was to continue taking the pills so that he wouldn't lose his job, too.

"An opiate withdrawal is the worst," he said. "It's bad, really bad. It ruined my life to be honest," he admitted.

"Just when you think you've hit a low, it gets lower," Tommy confessed.

He hit another low, this one causing him to miss work for a couple of days.

His employer contacted his sister trying to find him. She was worried.

She went to find him, fully expecting to find him overdosed and probably dead, but he was going through terrible withdrawals.

She was able to get him into a treatment program where he now takes suboxone as a temporary use to ween himself off of opioids once and for all.

He has not taken another opioid since and his life is so much better.

"It has helped me to better my life so much and my life is finally back together now," the 45-year-old said.

His company stayed with him.

"They knew me pre-addiction, during addiction, and now on this side of addiction. They know me well and have stuck by me," he said. He's been with the company now for 17 years now.

Living an otherwise normal life, he never thought he would call himself an addict, but on this side of the addiction, he hopes others will be patient with those who end up in a similar or worse predicament and help them seek medical attention.

While he doesn't recommend the same therapy for others, he does encourage them to get help.

It is with this and similar stories and many other reasons that Liberty County officials will okay the lawsuit.

"We're at the very beginning of the case, but we'll be sharing data over the next few months," Poston said.

He also emphasized that the county is not pursuing doctors or pharmacists in the suit at this time.